Summary
- Dates: 1900–1960
- Size: 8 boxes
- Media: Paper; photographs; archaeologically recovered material (wood; iron)
- Languages: English
- Subjects: American War of Independence; Steamboat Era
- Related Publications: n/a
- Access and Use: Some materials in the Hagglund Papers Collection are extremely fragile and should be handled with care.
Scope & Content
The Hagglund Papers are a subset of the Barranco Collection.
Lorenzo F. Hagglund (1894-1960) is recognized today as one of Lake Champlain’s first nautical archaeologists. Although he had no formal archaeological training, Hagglund researched, salvaged, and documented four Lake Champlain shipwrecks and made it his life’s work to educate the public on the lake’s history. After raising his second salvage project, the Philadelphia,in 1935, Hagglund exhibited the vessel in a floating museum that traveled to various ports on Lake Champlain. Hagglund also wrote a pamphlet about the Battle of Valcour Bay, the battle that sunk two of his salvaged gunboats, which was distributed at the vessel’s tourist attraction. Hagglund was interested in a broad range of historical subjects on Lake Champlain, and corresponded with naval and federal officials, museums, universities, and social clubs to promote his salvage operations.
The teenaged Peter Barranco met Hagglund at a church function in the early 1950s. Barranco set up a summer job with Hagglund in 1953 to help raise the steamboat Vermont I, the last of Hagglund’s four salvage operations. The two corresponded frequently until Hagglund’s death in 1960. After Hagglund’s death, many of his files were given to Barranco by the Hagglund family, which has provided the Museum with a continuous record of the lake’s maritime heritage.
The Hagglund Papers are a comprehensive record of his life’s work. They contain thousands of hand-copied primary source documents, artifacts, business records, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera that together tell the story of Hagglund’s life and his impact on the nautical archaeology on Lake Champlain. The Hagglund Papers are particularly significant because Hagglund kept a short note that summarized his response on each piece of correspondence he received, allowing the public and researchers at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum to piece together a unique record of Hagglund’s life.
Citation Recommendation
Hagglund Papers, Peter Barranco Collection, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT.
There are no known copyright restrictions related to this material.
Keywords
American War of Independence; Steamboat Era; shipwrecks; Lake Survey; Lorenzo Hagglund; Peter Barranco; Philadelphia; Royal Savage; Arnold’s Bay; Vermont